Robin Thicke is speaking out for the first time since his head-turning performance with Miley Cyrusat the 2013 MTV VMAs.In an on-camera interview with Star Magazine, Thicke says he wasn't surprised about the controversy that surrounded their racy "Blurred Lines" ...

In an on-camera interview with Star Magazine, Thicke says he wasn't surprised about the controversy that surrounded their racy "Blurred Lines" duet. "We knew what we were getting ourselves into. We're entertainers, and the VMAs is the perfect place for a little shock and awe," Thicke said. "Yeah, we kind of knew when we were in rehearsal and we were like, 'OK, if you touch me with your foam finger all over my crotch, obviously a few people are going to have something to say about this.' But that was the whole point. I mean the whole point was to excite and provoke and entertain."

Although Thicke, 36, admits he and Cyrus, 20, were aiming to "shock" viewers, he says he doesn't understand some of the comments surrounding the heavily scrutinized collaboration. "I totally understand everyone comes from different places and has their own opinions, but when people use the word sexual, I didn't feel anything sexual about the performance," Thicke said. "I thought it was silly and funny, she was being humorous and naughty, but it wasn't sexually charged at all. That's who she is, that's how she likes to dance, she was just being herself and I was just being myself."

Cyrus has also defended the performance, telling MTV that she and Thicke wanted to "make history." In response to the critiques about race and gender that have since followed, Cyrus said critics were "overthinking it. You're thinking about it more than I thought about it when I did it, because that's just me."